CNC Machinist at Tri-Tec Industries Honored as Outstanding Employee
Travis Eudy responded to an Indeed ad and joined Tri-Tec Industries in August of 2018. Today, his accomplishments in four short years have resulted in him being named Employee of the Month for parent company Compass Precision.
“I really like working for Tri-Tec,” explained Travis. “The people here are awesome. It’s like a family. And everyone is great.”
Travis began his career at Tri-Tec operating lathes. He learned a lot initially from Ivan Rico, an experienced lathe operator at Tri-Tec who himself is a past Compass Employee of the Month honoree. Then starting about 18 months ago, Travis moved over to operating mills, particularly the company’s Haas VF-1 vertical machining center. Then, having gotten a taste for milling, he began learning CNC programming using EZ-CAM, the programming software package Tri-Tec uses.
“Travis is a great employee,” said Rick Loyd, President of Tri-Tec. “He works hard, learns new things quickly, and always wants to get better. He is a real asset for us.”
Travis grew up working with his hands, helping out with his dad’s tile contracting business as a kid and early adult. He then worked for Griffin Contractors, another tile installation firm in Morganton, NC, for about nine years before transitioning to machining. Travis got his first opportunity to operate CNC machines at Consolidated Metco in Monroe, NC where he was employed for about two years. At that point, he answered that Indeed ad and the rest is history.
“My wife Racheal was the one who encouraged me to go back to school, to learn something new and advanced,” said Travis. “CNC machining was an obvious career choice. I have always been good with my hands. But I wanted to use my brain, too. Operating and programming machining centers allows me to do both. I was a button pusher at Consolidated Metco – a guy’s got to start somewhere. But at Tri-Tec, I have been able to grow and learn so much more.”
Travis is the sixth employee at Tri-Tec to receive Compass’s Employee of the Month honor, a staggering amount given the company only has about twenty employees. In addition to Ivan Rico and Brad Howard, Compass has also honored Tri-Tec’s Josh Chandler, Mike Leopard, and Dennis Jenkins as the company’s Employee of the Month.
“We are thrilled to have Travis as well as Ivan, Brad, Josh, Mike, and Dennis on our Tri-Tec team,” explained Compass CEO Gary Holcomb. “The key to success in our business is having great people, people who will go the extra mile to get the job done and satisfy customers. Rick Loyd fosters an incredibly productive environment at Tri-Tec, so it is no surprise that so many of his people are outstanding performers. Travis is the latest Employee of the Month recipient at Tri-Tec, but I am sure he will not be the last.”
Humble to the end, Travis sites support and encouragement from Racheal as his motivation to succeed. The couple have been married for 15 years and have two daughters, 13-year-old Nevaeh and her 11-year-old sister Ava.